Recent introduction of "high performance" finishes to residential sheet flooring has compounded the problem of sealing and/or coating the seams to keep unsightly and unremovable dirt from lodging therein. These surfaces were designed to be impervious to diffusion and for easy release of soil. Not surprisingly, it has been exceedingly difficult to find coatings which stick to these surfaces, especially coatings which, upon ambient drying, would have soiling and staining properties similar to the "high performance" surface. Moreover, there has been a proliferation of surface types in the field, including urethane, melamine and thin acrylic wear layers, which make it especially difficult to find a single coating which can be used on all products. (Multiple specific solutions are confusing to floor covering installers.) The present invention embodies a practical approach to rendering many such surfaces more amenable to bonding by various seam coater candidates.
Various methods have been proposed to make high performance surfaces more amenable to adhesion. These have included relatively severe abrasion, corona and electrical discharge treatments, and putting down a rubbery primer. Some rubbery materials adhere to the high performance wear layers, but soil and stain badly. Although these treatments were more or less successful in terms of improving adhesion, they are generally too cumbersome, too dangerous, or otherwise impractical. Grossly abraded or primed areas must be covered exactly with the seam coater as any uncovered areas will have reduced gloss and/or will soil and stain excessively, and if the coater is applied wider than the treated area, it will come loose around the edges allowing dirt to be trapped underneath. Either of these situations contribute further to the adverse aesthetics of the seam.